The cover of the album is an adaptation of 'Alchemy - 1974', painted over a
two-year period (1972-1973) by the late Australian artist and personal friend of
Mark Knopfler, Brett Whiteley, who died on 15th June 1992. The painting is
actually a self-portrait and consists of a series of large separate panels
which, when fully displayed, extend around several walls of a studio. The
vertical lines separating the frames can be seen on the album cover. There are
many panels to the work and most are not seen here. The adaptation includes
additional artwork and photographs of the band and some collage like a guitar
with lips held by a hand. One prevalent feature in Brett Whiteley's work are
arrows going in opposite directions, they feature in various paintings he has
done and presumably this is where the four arrows you see on the album cover
originate. Apparently Mark Knopfler was an admirer of Whiteley's work. In an
interview on the Australian TV programme '60 Minutes' he said he was 'saddened'
to hear of his death.